NP14. Francisco Rodriguez "National Pride"Mini short print:341. Edgar Gonzalez (+7 points)Hey, hey, what do you know? I'm up over 200 points for the box... With only 3 packs left though, the 300 point threshold is almost assuredly too far away.

I couldn't believe that this pack could possible be so poor so as not to push me to the 200 point threshold...unfortunately, seeing is believing - and one point later I'm still sitting below 200 points.

The 'ol want lists continue to shrink card by card. A few weeks ago I sent Mike from JDs WildCardz blog a couple of Upper Deck Masterpieces Red Sox cards plus some 2009 Turkey Red inserts. In return, he sent me some Reds and a few 2009 Topps cards that I needed...

I will be overseas traveling in Greece for the next 8 days. At this point, I have trades lined up and agreed to with Jacob, Chris, and Mathew. Those three envelopes will be going out a week from Tuesday since I'm leaving for the airport at 7:00 AM, long before the post office opens up. Anyone else who I didn't get the final details worked out on, please keep me in mind and send another email in a week and a day!

PS: Don't worry, I've got a TON of posts saved up so my blog won't be empty. In fact, the posts may appear at a faster pace than they ever have since I am finishing up my first Gint-a-Cuffs box and then busting my second (MUCH BETTER) Gint-a-Cuffs box.

Well, after two-thirds of the box opened, scanned, and scored, my box is on pace for a total of 261 points...well shy of some of the leading boxes that I've seen in Gint-A-Cuffs. I'm beginning to fear that I'll need to purchase another (hopefully better) box in order to win this thing!

Friday, July 24, 2009

About a month and a half ago (I'm really slow sometimes with these posts...especially with Gint-a-Cuffs taking over my blog lately), I sent Jeffrey two 2009 Topps cards he needed in return for two that I needed.

Just like that, I was able to simultaneously reduce my doubles pile and cut down my want list...can't ask for more than that!

What I got:655. Bengie Molina658. Rick PorcelloThanks again Jeffrey - and if anyone else would like to work out a trade, check out my want list and make an offer!

201. Travis Snider230. Torii Hunter236. Edgar Renteria251. Carl Crawford263. Brian Duensing298. Dan HarenNP27. John Lackey "National Pride"Mini short print:302. Stephen Drew (+7 points mini short print)The march to 200 points continues at a slow pace...too bad I need to get over 300 points to have any type of shot at the crown!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

As I mentioned before, I bought 4 hobby boxes of Allen and Ginter, box #1 is in the process of being revealed for Gint-a-Cuffs, box #2 can be seen here, this is box #3, and finally, the best box of the bunch (box 4) will also be used in Gint-a-Cuffs...2009 Topps Allen & Ginter Hobby Box 3 Breakdown

As I've mentioned in a few comments on other people's blogs, I had ordered 2 more boxes of Allen & Ginter from Blowout Cards. Well, they arrived today and I couldn't help myself...I busted both boxes - figuring the last box was going to be my second entry into the Gint-a-Cuffs.

Well, I chose correctly, the first box wasn't anything super special (I'll post a quick summary of that box at some point in the near future)...but the second box - well, it's much too late to figure out the scores (I'll do it pack by pack) but it just might give the great bearded one a run for his Gint-a-Cuffs money...I will drop a hint that it was my second four-hit box (out of 4 hobby boxes)...and I did manage to pull a favorite player or two. I truly have no idea if the box will match Beardy's...it'll all come down to the number of short prints, minis, etc (and avoiding stupid Yankees)!

Once I get the Gint-A-Cuffs posts typed up, I'll collate both boxes and figure out which cards I need (and I know I'll have a big 'ol stack of cards for trade, not to mention some relics/autographs/something else that some of you might have an interest in...

PS. If you missed it, here's the summary post for the second box I busted (non-Gint-a-Cuffs edition).

The 'ol mailbox has been fairly empty lately...most likely a direct result of everyone going out and buying Allen & Ginter instead of mailing cards! That said, I have received a couple of small envelopes in the past few weeks that I want to highlight.

2009 Topps Heritage Chrome:C39. John LackeyI really like this year's Topps Heritage set - which means I am taking on the rather crazy goal of building the entire chrome set as well as the full base set. I'm fairly certain I'll have to resort to eBay though as the trade offers for Heritage have basically evaporated.

Second, a couple of surprise cards from Alan:

2009 Topps:Turkey Red: TR90. Walter JohnsonLegends of the Game: Trevor HoffmanAnother two cards knocked off the 'ol list, that's awesome! Does anyone have a list of what cards are actually in the Legends of the Game and Career Best insert sets? I have no idea how close I am to completion since they are "numbered" by letters as opposed to actual numbers... Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks again Bradley and Alan - I sure do appreciate the cards! If anyone else would like to work out a trade, check out my want list and make an offer!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I decided to take my new Nikon P90 to "Historic Bowman Field" in Williamsport, PA and snap some photos of the Williamsport Crosscutters game against the Hudson Valley Renegades.

First, the traditional exchange of lineup cards.

I was excited to try out the sports setting on my camera. The Nikon P90 has a continuous sports shot mode...which allowed me to get the following three pictures from the exact same pitch.I was also able to get some nice action shots in the field, here's a Crosscutters triple...(if memory serves).After seeing how (relatively) easy it was to capture action shots with my camera, I'll never forgive Topps, Upper Deck, or any other company for lazy photography. If I can do, 15+ rows up in the stands then their paid photographers can certainly do it.

He's out - you can see the ump on the far right. Had I planned that a bit better I wouldn't have cut half the ump's body off!Crosscutters won the game 2-1...I was practicing with my 24x optical zoom at this point...but it turned out I didn't need to use all the optical zoom in order to fit the entire scoreboard in the viewfinder!Historic Bowman Field. A nice, intimate ballpark, that's for sure. You can get a feeling for where I was sitting for all the photos at least.At the end of the game, a fan promotion was to fly paper airplanes (on the field) to a target. Closest to the target got a $300 travel gift certificate (I was no where near it so no prize for me).There you have it, a case study of the Nikon P90. If you are ever in the market for a new digital camera (and don't want to quite spend as much as an SLR camera), the Nikon P90 is highly recommended by me!

My first hobby box is being (slowly) revealed as part of the Gint-a-Cuffs competition. At the time, I had thought I would use my first two hobby boxes as my two entries in the contest...but after scanning the cards (and doing a small write-up) for 24 packs, I simply didn't have it in me to do the same thing for another box...and I really wanted to collate and organize all my A&G cards tonight!

As such, I'll provide the highlights from the second box - and lament that fact that this *might* have been a 300 point box...especially since I think I pulled at least one card of every favorite player on the list!

Hits:Relics:1 from Group A: (1:100 packs) Bryan Berg1 from Group D: (1:17 packs) Ryan HowardAuto:1 from Group B: (1:51 packs) Willie WilliamsI was quite happy with this box... I pulled my first ever autograph from Allen & Ginter (they had eluded me for the previous two years of collecting)! I also pulled my first non-baseball relic ever...and a kind of neat one at that...I believe the playing card is a King that's been sliced up. I also was happy with the "standard" relic since Ryan Howard is a good player...and perhaps good trade bait too! On the other hand, I still have pulled any of the "secret" mini cards...and that's a shame since they are going to be expensive to try to buy on eBay if I have to go that route eventually.